Archive for October, 2012

TV Land

Friday, October 19th, 2012

IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray

# 127

October 15, 2012

“TV Land”

It might help if you are a fan of old movies and the TV Land cable channel or into a deeper history of crime in America; but neither serves a benchmark for this discussion.

Since the inception of 24-hour news channels, I have been a devotee´ of televised White House news conferences. Since the early days when CNN was the only choice for viewers, daily broadcasts have been a blend of both the historical and the hysterical. Helen Thomas provided color in spite of herself, while other reporters pressed the Press Secretaries throughout varied administrations for details of seminal happenings.

If the topic was hot, no reporter let up in the questioning; and, often, the presidential press secretary felt as if he or she was in the “hot seat” and not behind a stately podium.

That atmosphere changed with the current administration. These days I sit rapt with attention, and yet I feel as if I’m seeing an episode of “The Untouchables!” With rare exceptions, few pointed questions are posed and few really credible, sensible answers are given. Giving the White House a “bye” on hard situations is irresponsible and dangerous for all of us.

Since Benghazi and the terrorist attack of September 11th just a few weeks ago, the discussion has dissolved into an effort of futility for the White House. This is no Watergate, folks. Nobody died in Watergate. Furthermore, in the “anything goes” campaign waged by the DNC these days, a break-in of the Republican National Committee would position itself as a badge of honor and not the devastating, resignation-promoting presidential event of the Nixon administration of the 1970s.

How sad that our independent press has abrogated its duty in the face of a threat of terrorism. Where is the term “war on terror”, by the way?

Where is the Eliot Ness among the White House Press Corps? Why aren’t the reporters digging hard for why the White House is willing to throw the blame on the State Department for misleading the public into a belief that a 2-minute video trailer with barely 19 hits on the net over the summer is responsible for the death of an ambassador and three other Americans? In a land where village electricity is rare, just how many Jihadists are surfing the net for a little snippet of film? Think they all carry cell phones? Hardly!

Why did our tax dollars pay for a nearly immediate televised apology in the Muslim world for the aforementioned video? Why has the U.S. State Department remained silent when Libyan leadership knew immediately that terrorists were responsible and in the wake of congressional testimony this past week?

The administration dispatched its UN Ambassador to the Sunday television news shows to reinforce the implausible story. That Susan Rice was complicit in this speaks volumes as to the loyalty of the president’s staff to lie to the American people? How sad. Where is her honor? Or is she as much in the dark as the rest of us?

I’m ready for an onslaught of intense questioning for Jay Carney and a demand for the president to get up in front of reporters without a teleprompter and be forced to answer. Let him squirm at the depth of the queries. Let viewers see how nonsensical the whole situation truly is when it comes to common sense.

The role of the press is to hold every administration, regardless of political party, accountable for its actions. We haven’t seen much of this, have we?

Isn’t it time that we did? We need to appeal strongly to all news networks and print media. We need to urge them to vault into this chaos and deception with the zest once seen on a regular basis in the nation’s capital.

Let’s change my take on the press conferences from “The Untouchables” to
“Dragnet.” As the inimitable Jack Webb would say, “Just the facts, ma’am.” Remember, everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, but not to his or her own facts. That goes for everybody from you to the president. It’s time for facts about Benghazi. Think about it.

“‘Nuf Said!”

Tuesday, October 2nd, 2012

IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray

#126

“’Nuf Said”

If you have any sensibility about you, I think we have one thing in common: electoral burnout. I am weary of all the hype and the spin coming from Washington to excuse a president who is so busy campaigning on nothing at all that he complains about preparing for a debate.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to contrast one element of background between these two men. One worked either in community organization or government while the other worked in private business.

Government operates on the most addictive drug of all OPM, not opium. OPM stands for Other People’s Money. Government jobs produce services, not products. The services span all genres and the only visible product is paper — primarily in the form of rules and regulations that infringe on the lives of people over whom they hold sway.

Private business, on the other hand, accounts for the wealth of this nation. Business must generate a profit to remain viable. Government remains viable at the expense of the taxpayer, who foots the bills for bad decisions and poor investments such as the ongoing love affair with green energy.

The cogs and wheels of business forge ahead in spite of the government, event though it is hampered at every turn by immense burdens of not only taxes, but inane rules that make no common sense at all.

Business profits generate jobs and equipment. The demand for tools and or equipment generates jobs in other areas, and the spiral continues and benefits opportunity that spreads throughout the nation and accounts for the financial well being of people of every economic stratum.

If a business cannot make money, it must — if possible — declare bankruptcy and has the option of reorganizing and structuring debt so it has a second chance. There is no second chance for a country that is bankrupt. We face this situation now.

I am tired of empty promises and poor decisions. I want a proven problem solver, not a glib salesman. The American public was sold a bill of goods four years ago. I must trust that voters who recognize that mistake will see fit not to repeat it.

A person with a keen financial eye and good judgment can turn this country around, and it won’t take decades. I heard an economist last week. He explained that for every one percent increase in GDP, there is a corresponding trillion-dollar decrease in the national debt.

Do the math. If we could achieve a three or five percent rise in GDP — and that is not impossible if the government will get out the way – balanced with needed decreases in ridiculous spending, the debt would drop to a level that we could handle — and eventually erase. Now, that’s progress, folks!

This is not just a game of one side against another. This is a race for our lives and the future of this nation. I find it amusing that the faux pas of “You didn’t build that” has gained a life of its own. One thing is for sure, the government didn’t build this country, its people did.

In our expansion years, the federal government stood aside and let risk takers do their thing. So, in 200 plus years, we earned status as a nation that was the envy of the world. Our strength is in a strong defense. A mouse doesn’t attack a lion. The lion roars and often doesn’t need to defend its territory because weaker animals know enough to let it alone.

Throughout our history, the American lion held freedom so dear that it sacrificed untold numbers of its young to spread that freedom to others, all the while remaining a good neighbor in the world. It’s time for the lion to roar again, but the lion needs the teeth to back up that roar! Systematically dismantling and demoralizing the military, while ignoring looming foreign threats, is not the way to do it. Peace through strength is the path.

As my Grandpa was accustomed to saying, “’Nuf said!” Let’s chart the right path in November. Every vote counts. Don’t let anyone discourage you from standing up for the greatest nation on earth. I would end with “Think about it,” but if you must think about it, you aren’t thinking at all!